Georgia Tech defensive backs Step Durham and Lance Austin had a heated verbal altercation in a weight room last spring that ended with Durham knocking Austin out cold.
Video of the incident was shown on TMZ Tuesday. In the video, Austin walks toward Durham, who shoves him back, before knocking Durham out cold with a single right hook to the jaw.
When 11Alive Sports reached out to Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the school provided a statement:
Georgia Tech’s football coaching staff became aware of the incident between teammates and friends shortly after it occurred. Discipline was handled internally.
Both players are seniors and both were starters this season.
Each released a statement through the school on Tuesday night. Durham's statement:
"First off, I would like to start by apologizing to Georgia Tech, my teammates – especially Lance Austin – and my coaches, fans and family for bringing a negative light on the school, the football program and my name.
My actions in the video that was made public today were unacceptable and the dispute should have been handled in a more adult manner. Taking disputes to a physical level is never the answer and I hope my peers take note of my mistake.
The incident occurred during the spring, which gave Lance and me an opportunity to discuss the matter and put it aside a long time ago. Lance and I have always had a brother-like relationship and brothers sometimes fight but, as I said before, the situation should have been handled in a more mature manner. I’m glad that even after the incident, our friendship remains strong.
Austin said in his statement he forgave his teammate a long time ago:
"A lot has been made today of an incident that happened months ago. The video snippet of that incident is not beneficial to anyone. Step Durham apologized and we long ago put that incident behind us. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no further need for an apology. I forgave him already and we have since played well together as teammates this season. Like Step said, as brothers, we have put our aside our differences and our friendship remains strong."
